Students are well-accustomed to the routine of exams -- late nights, study groups and lots of caffeine. But add in the stress of packing up for the summer, and there's a recipe for disaster.

Tony Tao (freshman-engineering) has five exams to take, the last one falling on Friday. He admits he hasn't "really planned much."

"I just knew I'd spend most of the time studying and throw everything into the SUV on Saturday," he said.

Roommates Deepa Ramasamy (freshman-science) and Joanna Skora (freshman-premedicine) will team up to ship out -- both leave Wednesday afternoon.

"I'm going to pack up after my final," Ramasamy said.

Some students, however, don't have very far to move. Stephanie Baker (freshman-music), a State College resident, said she's been "progressively moving out" throughout the week.

"It took me three carloads to move in," she said. "It'll definitely take time, but I don't think it'll interfere [with my studying]."

Lynn DuBois, associate director of Housing, said students should start making packing preparations now so they can focus on their studying.

"We do put up information for them to start early, even in the past few weeks," she said. "We encourage students to [start] recycling magazines, those kinds of things they might have been keeping in their room."

Students have until 4 p.m. Saturday to check out of their dorms. However, DuBois added, the university will not throw out a student in trouble.

"Once in a while we'll have a situation where a family member is coming to get a student and their car may have had issues, or a highway is closed," she said. "We work with the student and see how we can help out."

When moving out, students are asked to clear off their walls, defrost their refrigerators and remove all personal belongings. Students are reminded to return their room key to the Commons Desk, or they will be charged with the replacement of the door lock.

Despite the pressure of finals, some students are in more of a hurry to check out than others are.

"I'm more concerned about getting out of here than doing well on exams," Emily Smetanick (freshman-division of undergraduate studies) said, laughing. "I'm just sick of being here.